Algoma District School Board students will stay home for a special "transition day" later this month.
The English public school board says elementary and secondary students will stay home Monday, November 16th, provided with work the previous Friday and able to have "touch base time" with teachers via Microsoft Teams - for elementary students, that would be 1:30 to 2 and for secondary students, it'll be 11 to 11:30 with their morning teacher and 2 to 2:30 with their afternoon teacher.
According to the board, the move comes as teachers reorganize elementary classrooms to integrate virtual learners and to transition high school students to "a new quadmester" - this mid-term transition was requested by the Ministry of Education, and is expected to be the final restructuring of classes this school year, as the board notes reorganizing by shuffling students and staff "jeopardizes everyone's health, safety, and well-being".
It adds that this move - which blends virtual and physical students into one class - will alleviate the teacher shortage the board's been experiencing, though it is reaching out to parents of students with special needs to discuss options and supports
This also comes as progress reports near for elementary students.